If Isaiah begins with the exposure of Jerusalem as a fallen empire, he does not stop there. Indeed, he cannot. As in Jesus’ parable of the expulsion of an evil spirits (Luke 11:24-26), it is not sufficient to empty life (individual or collective), it must be filled. The refilling takes place through imagination.
Prophets are imagineers. Isaiah imagines two things: God’s current comfort and God’s eventual restoration. This is an Isaiah version of the same two things David imagined in the 23rd Psalm.
Brueggemann writes in staggering detail about these two things. But stepping back from all his content, we are left with the conviction which we sing about, “though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet…..This is my Father’s world!
In next week’s post, I will focus on where all this ends up for Brueggemann: an ancient biblical text which propels is to bold action in the present.
Oboedire 